Zombie themed games are all the rage right now, and since Sim games can take on just about any form, why not a zombie farm. Fun, addictive and time consuming, Zombie Farm puts you on a small patch of earth and gives you the tools to grow carrots, tomatoes, onion and Zombies! Yes, along with veggie seeds you get to plant corpses and harvest zombies to build your own invading army. Who said farming was boring?

Gameplay

Just because you can grow vegetables like celery, carrots and more, it doesn?t mean this is a normal farmland. You won?t make a lot of money just to grow veggies. The goal is to breed your own private zombie army. There are 15 different zombies you can unearth from your farm, some can fight while others can help with the farm. They also harvest at different times too, which creates plenty of room for strategies and planning. You can sell zombies just like you can sell your veggies for money. But after you have created a zombie army the only thing you strive for is a zombie invasion.

You can have total of 16 zombies in your army, but you can start an invasion when you have 8. Invasion is THE most effective way to bring in cash and brains, with both you buy upgrades, items and all that the shop has to offer. The first place, currently the only place with promise from the developer of two additional targets, for the zombie invasion is the ?Old MacDonnell?s Farm? and you can ?ee i ee i oh? your way through the 10 farm boys and the old MacDonald himself with your zombie army. If you win the fight, the reward is a large pile of cash and hopefully a brain. The only thing that prevents you from becoming a dedicated warmonger is that the game only allows one invasion every two hours (in real time) after you?ve harvested the eighth zombie. The downtime allows you to grow more zombies to replace the ones you?ve lost in battles. Be careful though, you can?t interrupt a battle; if a call comes in while you are attacking the Old MacDonnell?s Farm, the battle ends immediately and the invasion ticker pushes you back down another 2 hours before you can start another invasion.

Different zombies exhibit different behaviors in battle. True to its form, the headless zombies have a hard time to focus and take long to their headless body ready for the fight. The girl zombies are usually fast and eager to get into any fight, but the most effective fighters come from mutants. Once you?ve unlocked the mutation formula, you can create mutant zombies by planting a zombie next to the vegetable it will mutate with. Just make sure that you time it right because you have to harvest the zombie before harvesting the veggies on the next lot; or the mutation won?t happen.

There are an enormous number of upgrades to buy, items to unlock and special zombies such as Zyborg, Kindlehead, ZomBeauty and many more to grow. The game keeps track of your levels which you gain by farming and buying items that come with experience points. Leveling up means unlocking items and zombie types. So don?t leave your farm empty even if you don?t need the money; keeping busy gets you experience points in general. You can also unlock and buy trees, barrels and fences for your farm; these items provide ?life force? (game-lingo) for the zombies. How about a pond that comes with a frog?

Building a thriving farm is fun, but building a thriving farm with your friends is even more entertaining. Each day you start the farm, you get a small gift. To maximize gifts, you should turn all your Facebook friends onto the game. The more Facebook friends you have playing the game the better your chances to receive gifts. Gifts include gold, brains and even a free zombie. There?re also in-game purchase including items such as brains and special upgrades.

Graphics

The graphics has a nice comic book combined with The Simpsons kind of quality. The zombies look cute and environment graphics are sharp. The UI is very well designed and easy to use. The entire visual package is stylish, and the controls work smoothly.

Sound

Zombie Farm has an acoustic guitar track that sounds like somebody doing a practice riff. It sounds pleasant but if you play long sessions it can gets very repetitive. Sound FX in the game is very cute and well done. When you tap on a zombie they will say ?brain? as they often want brains. Each zombie type has its own voice which is cool.

Conclusion

Zombie Farm stands out in a sea of simulation games. It?s simple yet very addictive, it?s quirky yet creative. The game offers ton of upgrades, purchaseable items, not to mention different types of zombies to breed and endless battles to fight. You can play it a few minutes here and there or have long playing sessions depending on the strategy with which you approach the game. We do hope to see more farms added to the invasion list, and we wish there were a pause function in real time battles so that you don?t waste a good two hours if your battle is interrupted by an incoming phone call. Since the game is free, you log on to the iTunes now and grab it!

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Graphics: - 5 - Very stylish graphics with cute character design.Sound: - 4 - The guitar track is pleasant, but repetitive. Sound FX is cool.Controls: - 5 - Control interface is well designed. Very easy to use. Gameplay: - 4.5 - Excellent Sim game with a twist. Addictive with lots of play value.

Playing Hints and Tips:

- Whatever you do, don?t stop a battle if you can help it. Once a battle is interrupted, you can?t go back into it. The clock starts at 2 hour mark again.

- Breed mutant zombies as soon as you unlock them. Headless zombies are useless since they wander the most before getting into a fight. Girl zombies however are quick getting into a fight.

- Always plant something even if you don?t need it right away. You gain experience points by plowing and planting something.